IBM has launched its 1 terabyte tape drive the day after Sun launched the T10000B, and its is 33 percent faster than the Sun product.

The IBM System Storage TS1130 is the latest generation of the company's 3592 tape format. The previous TS1120 drive stored up to 700GB of raw data on a 3592 tape.

The TS1130 has an I/O bandwidth of up to 160MB/sec, 40MB/sec faster than the 120MB/sec of Sun's T10000 and 56MB/sec faster than the TS1120's 104MB/sec. Backups are up to 54 percent faster with the latest drive.

Sun did not increase the T1000A's I/O speed of 120MB/sec when it introduced the T10000B.

The new TS1130 drive also offers built-in encryption of a tape's contents.

Cindy Grossman, Tape and Archive VP for IBM System Storage, said: "IBM is committed to tape storage as part of a tiered information infrastructure and today we offer the fastest, highest capacity drive in the market. Tape storage is the most green and cost-effective form of data storage available, and the IBM TS1130 Tape Drive will enable clients to address their growing needs for affordable and robust data solutions by storing more data on fewer cartridges, which will save clients valuable time, space, energy and money."

IBM illustrates the 1TB capacity as being equivalent to storing the text of one million books on a single tape cartridge. It positions the TS1130 drive as ideal for mid-sized to enterprise clients across financial, life sciences and public sector industries looking for massive data protection, compliance and archive solutions needed over the long term.

The TS1130 has a special head overcoat coat technology that, IBM says, helps lengthen the overall life expectancy of the product.

The new drive uses existing 3592 rewritable and WORM (Write Once Read Many) cartridges. It offers backwards compatibility with support for Gen 1, 2 and 3 formats supporting both read and write for Gen 2 and read only for Gen 1 helping to protect media investments and lower costs.

The TS1130 will be available worldwide on September 5, 2008 with a starting price of $39,050. IBM is also offering an upgrade from existing drives for $19,500 and backward media compatibility for investment protection.